Category Archives: Shane Victorino

It was made official Sunday morning that the Phillies acquired 3B Michael Young and cash from the Texas Rangers for reliever Josh Lindblom and prospect Lisalverto Bonilla.

It was a good fit for both teams, with the Phillies needing a third baseman and Young wanting to continue to compete as he waived his no trade clause to Philadelphia.

“The baseball part was easy,” Young told reporters on Monday in Texas. “I have a great opportunity in Philadelphia, having the opportunity to go from one great team to another. They have a position for me; I was ready for a new challenge. I like a new challenge. As a competitor, I want to see what it’s like. The hard part was my family and what it would be like for them, being away for a summer. But once we embraced that, the baseball part was easy.”

The Phillies filled a huge hole at third for one season, prolonging their search for a more permanent solution at the hot corner. They did so without giving up too much, especially while boasting a deep and rich farm system of pitchers.

Lindblom was acquired in the Shane Victorino trade to the Dodgers before the deadline last season. He didn’t really wow the Phillies coaches, especially in late-game situations where they wanted him to pitch. Lindblom posted a 4.19 ERA in 38 2/3 innings of work in the 8th inning or later during the entire season.

Despite not being high up on Ruben Amaro’s list of center field candidates, Shane Victorino is off the board.

According to numerous reports, Victorino has agreed to a three-year, $39 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox won’t announce the deal until Victorino passes a physical.

Victorino was traded to the Dodgers at the deadline where he finished the season. He garnered attention from the Indians as well as the Red Sox, as well as being rumored to be on Amaro’s list. (Amaro squashed those reports today.)

The Phillies are in need of a new center fielder, and general manager Ruben Amaro is going to target the free agent market for one.

Shane Victorino was traded to the Dodgers at the deadline and John Mayberry Jr isn’t viewed as an everyday center fielder. That leaves Amaro looking for a fresh face, and preferably a right-handed hitting one at that.

“If we can get someone who would give us more balance from the right side, that would be great,” Amaro said. “That’s not necessary, but it would be helpful. We need somebody who can be a plus defender. Defense and pitching is going to win. As always, we saw it again in these playoffs, San Francisco were champions because they caught it and pitched it. Yes, I’d like to add to our offense. But we absolutely have to catch it and pitch it. We can’t lose sight of that as the basis of how we’ll be successful.”

That spells out free agent center fielder B.J. Upton. Upton is an ideal fit, mainly because Upton does a lot offensively and could provide the Phillies with some pop from the right side of the plate.

Either way, the Phillies need to improve in that department big time, and a lot of pressure is on Amaro to do just that.

With Shane Victorino on his way to Los Angeles, the Phillies have called up outfielder Domonic Brown from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Brown was scratched from today’s noon lineup and is currently on his way to Washington D.C. to meet up with the team.

In 60 games with the IronPigs, Brown was hitting .286 with 13 doubles, two triples, five homers and 28 RBIs in 236 plate appearances.

Brown has battled injuries twice this year with his hand and his knee. Both injuries kept him out of action but none of them were serious, nor have set his skills back.

Brown has played all three outfield positions with the IronPigs so far this season so it isn’t clear where he’ll play in the field in Philadelphia. He should be an every day starter though, with there seemingly nothing to lose on this season for the Phillies.

Another possible suitor for Cliff Lee has surface, at it comes from the desert.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are reportedly interested in Cliff Lee according to David Murphy of the Daily News. If the Diamondbacks want Lee, expect 24 year-old outfielder Justin Upton to be the centerpiece of that deal, especially with Shane Victorino likely out the door and the rumors surrounding Hunter Pence.

ATLANTA — The lack of consistency in the second half is killing the Phillies.

The Phils followed up a four-game winning streak, and sweep of the Brewers, by getting swept by division foe Atlanta Braves. Again the offense couldn’t support a strong outing from it’s rotation, this time resulting in a 6-2 loss.

Roy Halladay had a decent outing, but some red flags remained after his start. Doc scattered three runs over the course of six innings on six hits and a walk while striking out seven.

Halladay retired the last 10 hitters he faced despite giving up a pair of solo homers to Jason Heyward and Chipper Jones. His cutter was averaging 88 MPH, a few ticks down from last season.

Halladay allowed two quick runs in the 1st inning, a homer to Heyward and an RBI double by Dan Uggla to make it 2-0. The next inning, Jones’ homer gave the Braves a 3-0 lead and that proved to be the winning runs.

A solo homer by Shane Victorino in the 4th cut the Braves lead to 3-1. Then Carlos Ruiz’s RBI in the 6th made it 3-2, but that was the closest the Phils got.

Three runs in the 7th inning off Jake Diekman gave the Braves a commanding 6-2 lead to seal the sweep.

PHILADELPHIA — There is a bit of swagger left in the Phillies tank and it showed again.

Looking like a completely different team, the Phillies showed no lead is safe. They scored six runs in the 8th inning to come all the way back from being down 6-1 to beat the Brewers 7-6 Tuesday night.

After Erik Kratz’s pinch-hit two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the 8th of Brewers reliever Manny Parra made it a 6-3 game, the Phils attempted a two-out rally.

Parra got Jimmy Rollins for the second out. But then Para walked Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to load the bases for Carlos Ruiz.

Chooch, who is having an MVP-caliber season, smacked a bases-clearing double into the gap in left center to tie the game up. Hunter Pence followed with an RBI single to score Ruiz and give the Phillies a 7-6 lead.

It erased another dismal Phillies start, this time from Cliff Lee. Lee got roughed up for six runs on 12 hits and a walk in seven innings for the no-decision.